Doug Dyment’s

QuickerStack

The Half-Hour Memorized Deck

QuickerStack (a.k.a. The Half-Hour Memorized Deck) is a full-deck stack for the entertainer who wants to do memorized deck work, but not make it a life’s work. This new approach yields a sequence that (unlike some currently available) can be safely displayed to an audience (for example, here are the first ten cards: 7S-5H-10C-KD-2H-9C-AS-QD-6C-3C).

Nonetheless, the conversion from any card’s value to its corresponding position (and vice versa) is straightforward, completely consistent, and both learned and remembered quite easily. This is the fastest algorithmic solution yet devised, and significantly updated and improved from the original (QuickStack) version described in the first six printings of Mindsights.

QuickerStack also incorporates a specialized ordering that enables the execution of a wide variety of strong effects, a much more versatile approach than stacks designed around a fixed collection of the author’s favourite pieces, and one favoured by many top performers. Alan Ackerman, for example, considers this ordering to be “the strongest of all stacks.”

Also included is “The Immoderate Deception”, an unfathomable multi-participant pick-a-card routine that plays big, and has bewildered audiences (and magicians) worldwide. It doesn’t even require that you memorize the stack!

Please Note: This separate printing of QuickerStack is intended primarily for owners of early editions of Mindsights (which contained QuickStack, a less evolved stack). First-time purchasers will find it far more cost-effective to order Mindsights, which has three times as much high-impact content (including every word of the QuickerStack material), at only a modest increase in cost.

So I strongly encourage you to read and consider the description and reviews of Mindsights before purchasing QuickerStack as a separate item.

QuickerStack comes as a well illustrated, generously filled 24-page, softcover, saddle-stitched book — plus 5 pages of on-line supplements — for only US$20.
OUT OF PRINT
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“… the 30-minute memorized deck is the best I’ve seen” —David Alexander [USA]

“QuickStack is just great.” —Willian Aronstein [USA]

“I love it. I've been looking for such a stack for a while, one that is easy to remember, ... so clever!” —Astone [France]

“A well thought out and easy yet very deceptive stacked deck … well produced and very, very usable.” —Banachek [USA]

“I just spent a few hours with QuickerStack and — to be honest — this stack is what I always looked for. Already I can calculate positions and cards without errors. This finally opens up a whole new possibility for mem deck based effects for me (I tried learning the Tamariz stack before and just could not put in the time I would have needed). So this item alone is worth the Mindsights purchase in my opinion … Already I can say that this is the best (magic-related) purchase I made in a long time!” —Benjamin Bischoff [Germany]

“Having a stack that looks natural but allows for algorithmic computation means that you can memorize this quickly and have a fallback approach in case you blank out on a card’s precise location mid-routine. Nice work … I am very impressed with [QuickerStack]. The manual is packed with hints to assist in memorizing the stack, and is easy to follow. I highly recommend this if you are looking to get into memorized deck effects.” —Michael Cranford [USA]

“I can’t tell you how valuable [‘The Immoderate Deception’] has proven for me … I slay with that effect. I’ve won local awards (yawn) and blown more minds with that one bit than almost any other …” —John Crippen [USA]

“… great material …” —Brian Davey [USA]

“I was particularly struck by QuickStack.” —Peter Duffie [UK]

“I wanted to decide which system to use in the future — either Si Stebbins Pro or QuickerStack. As I now have both, the decision is clear: it will be QuickerStack. I also want to use the structure of the setup for Gene Nielsen’s ‘Cool Reading’, so QuickerStack is perfect for me.” —Norbert Eder [Poland]

“QuickerStack turned out to be even easier than I expected. The method is quite brilliant; it’s brilliant because it’s relatively simple. And, as advertised, it took me less than 30 minutes to learn the calculation necessary to get either from card-to-number or number-to-card! I think it probably took only about 10 or 15 minutes to read the chapter. Doug Dyment’s explanation of the method is clear, concise, and memorable. … I highly recommended this.” —Bill Hallahan [USA]

“Quickstack’s also sure to become my favourite stacked deck (much easier than the stack I was using). Highly recommended.” —Brian Hitchlock [Canada]

“Highly recommended …” —Les Johnson [UK]

“I love QuickerStack: it took about ten minutes for me to learn.” —John Liguori [USA]

“Quickstack is beautiful …” —Nicolas Longo [France]

“Congratulations on some brilliant new thinking.” —Dennis Loomis [USA]

“I really liked Doug’s book. I picked it up specifically for QuickStack; the other two standout effects for me were Flash Squared, and Bob’s Your Uncle.” —Richard Morrell [UK]

“Quickstack is an exceptional piece of work. I had my doubts about the ‘half hour stack’; usually claims of the like are then followed by a line such as, ‘Once you have mastered my memory techniques …’. Quickstack lives up to its name: quick to learn, quick to use.” —William Morton [Canada]

“… learned [QuickerStack] in about 10 minutes. It is that easily done. The reading flows so smoothly as well as ‘quick’. I have had the previous version many years ago and this is that much ‘Quicker’. I have learned several stacks over the last 23 years of performing and studying. This is almost miraculous in its construct and practicality. It even serves as a teaching and learning device in itself. I started reading with an open mind but was nevertheless preparing for some stiff challenges in grasping and with calculations. None of that here. If you are even possibly considering getting this, I urge you to do so. You will not regret it. I am neither a math major nor ‘left brained’ thinker at heart.

This will serve you in so many ways. Yes, even with all those other stacks. The applied thinking and execution is nothing short of inspiring. I can envision extended writings around this in application throughout the entire field of card magic and mentalism in the near future. Have you ever wanted to stumble across the tip of an iceberg for mining and resources? Here it is!” —John Nesbit [USA]

“I’ve known and used QuickStack for a long time, and consider it a fantastic tool … Many of my routines are based upon it” —Daniele Nigris [Italy]

“The memorized deck should help a lot of performers … What a clever lad you are. Thanks for sharing … Bravo!” —Barrie Richardson [USA]

“[QuickStack] is far and away the quickest stack in the world to memorize. ” —Robin Robertson [USA]

“I have already started learning QuickStack. Your system is ingenious. What really sets it apart from the others and why I’ll use it is that your system allows a person to use the stack before mastering it as a memorized stack and while becoming more and more familiar with the direct relationship between card and position. And The Immoderate Deception seems like the perfect way to begin.” —Steve Roth [USA]

“[QuickStack] is by far the very best I ever saw. Very, very clever—I wonder why everybody is not using it, and talk about the other stacks.” —Jean-Jacques Sanvert [France]

“QuickStack is … about as easy to master as the BCS and the routine The Immoderate Deception included in the book alone warrants learning it.” —Steve Sargent [UK]

“… wanted to get in touch to say how much I have enjoyed learning [QuickerStack]. It’s great to finally have found a stack that I can commit to memory, after ruling out the idea of ever using a mem deck for reasons of practicality... What you have come up with is incredibly clever and reading through the book made me smile continuously, a very entertaining read, so many thanks for that.” —Jon Shaw [UK]

“I love [QuickerStack]. I was skeptical at first but Doug proved me wrong. All his claims are true. It is not only an easy system to learn but it is fun as well!” —Jerry Siskind [USA]

“Thank you for your ingenious QuickerStack. I doubt that a more random-looking stack is possible with a single algorithm, and I wish I had thought of it myself.” —David Sumrell [USA]

“The stack is certainly worth the price …” —Bill Tadlock [USA]

“Doug was right — it took me only 30 minutes to learn QuickStack. I read the instructions and learned the first 13 cards while eating lunch. I then went for a walk and went through the other cards, and by the time I returned home, had it all memorized.” —Richard Webster [New Zealand]

“[QuickerStack] was precisely what I was looking for. The process of learning to calculate the stack positions was the work of a half hour, and the longer process of memorizing the stack (where no such calculation is necessary — you just know) was the work of less than two hours over a couple of days. I had proficiency in a half hour, mastery in less than three hours. The low price of the buy-in and the limited investment of time and effort (less than needed to master a jog shuffle) makes this a tool for which there is no excuse not to have in your arsenal.

This is one of the most powerful tools out there, and it requires so little of you to make it yours. I urge you to buy it, to master it, and to use it. You will thank me, perhaps, but you will hold yourself indebted to Doug. He has a knack for finding the best way to do anything, and making that information accessible and usable. That is a most rare gift. I hope you will take advantage of it.” —John Wells [USA]